Since gay conservative group GOProud is so focused on its economic and job message for this election vs. social issues like equality for Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender LGBT people, I thought that on this anniversary of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) would be another opportunity to remind them of how not having equality is very much connected to LGBTs economic stability.

From NBC News:

By engaging a civilian lawyer [Brian Henley] was able to gain an honorable discharge. But he was denied GI Benefits that he paid into, and was kicked out of the Air Force with $2,000 in his bank account and even unable to collect state unemployment in his home state of California.

[snip]

Henley, for example, finally was able to get on his feet and complete college and is now studying to be a paralegal in Florida, but he has incurred some $25,000 in student loan debt that he otherwise would not have had if he had been able to complete his service.

[snip]

…family readiness has always been considered mission critical in the military. That’s why it provides health care for families, deployment support services and moving assistance when service members are transferred among bases.

For now, spouses of same sex [sic] couples are cut out of the support and benefit system. They can’t even go on the base to go the grocery store because they are not given base identification.

That, according to activists, has set up a two-tiered system within the military, with heterosexual spouses taken care of but homosexual spouses cut out of that support.

As I have mentioned before, if GOProud was really concerned about the economy they’d spend less time trying to communicate that message out to the LGBT community and more time on communicating to conservatives and Republicans how their anti-gay attitudes impact the economics of the LGBT community.